Ad agency professionals significantly overestimate just how much other people use social media, and could be spending more of your budget where less is needed.

That’s not just us talking. That’s according to a study from ThinkTV, an Australian research and marketing company. While only Australian agency professionals were surveyed, we have no reason to think the results would be much different here.

We don’t know where they dreamed up these numbers but those who worked at ad agencies thought that in the past seven days:

32% of the population had used Buzzfeed. The actual figure (from the average Australians polled) was 7%.

53% had used Twitter. Wrong again — only 13% had.

76% had used Snapchat. No, try 25%.

89% had used Instagram. But only 33% had.

94% had used YouTube (but only 61% had).

Everyone had used Facebook. No — 79%.

Honestly? Laugh or cry? Help us decide.

ThinkTV surveyed over 1,600 Australian advertising professionals and more than 1,000 members of the Australian public. Polling was by Professor Karen Nelson-Field, professor of media innovation at Adelaide University.

Sure, ThinkTV is backed by Nine Network, Seven Network, Network Ten and Multi-Channel Network/Foxtel and has its own agenda (to “demonstrate how advertising in broadcast-quality content environments provides the greatest return on investment”). But anyone who thinks that more than half the population of any country used Twitter last week is living in a bubble.